Otmar Mäder
Otmar Mäder (born November 15, 1921 in Mörschwil ; † April 25, 2003 in St. Gallen ; entitled to reside in Mörschwil) was Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Gallen from 1976 to 1994 .
Life
Otmar Mäder, the youngest of 11 children, studied after graduating from the Einsiedeln Abbey School, Catholic theology and initially physics and philosophy at the University of Friborg , the Jesuit Theological Faculty from their place of exile at the Canisianum in Sion / Sion and after the faculty moved to Innsbruck . In 1947 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Meile . In 1950 he was at the University of Innsbruck with the work "The problem of collective guilt in the Old Testament" to Dr. theol. PhD . He then worked as a pastor in Flawil (1950–1956), St. Gallen (1956–1961), Alt St. Johann (1961–1966), Ricken (1966–1973) and Muolen (1973–1976).
On March 25, 1976, Pope Paul VI confirmed his election as Bishop of St. Gallen two days earlier. He was ordained bishop on May 2, 1976 by his predecessor Joseph Hasler ; Co - consecrators were François-Nestor Adam , Bishop of Sion, and Anton Hänggi , Bishop of Basel and Lugano. From 1979 to 1983 he presided over the Swiss Bishops' Conference.
Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation due to health reasons on September 24, 1994. He died in 2003 after two heart operations and was buried in the St. Otmars crypt in St. Gallen Cathedral .
Act
Otmar Mäder was best known as a catechist . He formulated the catechetical curriculum for German-speaking Switzerland . He was a co-founder of the Swiss Catechist Association and was committed to the German Catechist Association and to the European Congress in Munich. In the Swiss Bishops' Conference he had a major influence on the catechesis department.
From 1980 to 1982 and 1989 to 1991 he was President of the Swiss Bishops' Conference ; During his second term of office, the dispute over the then Bishop Wolfgang Haas in the Diocese of Chur fell .
During his study visit to Innsbruck, Otmar Mäder had contact with the Catholic Austrian University Association Alpinia Innsbruck in the ÖCV and became an honorary member of the student association. He was already a member of the Academic Association AV Leonina Freiburg in the Swiss Student Association and the Academic Association AV Helvetia Oenipontana Innsbruck , the oldest Catholic student association in Austria.
literature
- Cornel Dora: Mäder, Otmar. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Ekkart Sauser : Mäder, Otmar. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 23, Bautz, Nordhausen 2004, ISBN 3-88309-155-3 , Sp. 933-936.
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry on Otmar Mäder , Austrian Cartel Association of June 7, 2013, accessed on August 10, 2018.
Web links
- Literature by and about Otmar Mäder in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entry on Otmar Mäder on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Ivo Fürer : "Faith, hope and love - the motto of bishops and life" , Swiss Church Newspaper 2003.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph Hasler |
Bishop of St. Gallen 1976–1994 |
Ivo Fürer |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mäder, Otmar |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bishop Otmar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss clergyman, bishop of St. Gallen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 15, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mörschwil , Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 25, 2003 |
| Place of death | St. Gallen , Switzerland |